Episode 17: New Year, Old Bars | Kelly's Olympian and Nob Hill Bar & Grill (Jan. 29, 2020)

Once an infamous downtown dive, Kelly's is now an affable motorcycle themed tavern and live music venue. 

Buoyed by a lifestyle-enhancing new sponsor, we embarked on our first HBTG visits of 2020!

First, a visit to Portland’s third-oldest bar — a former downtown dive “men’s resort” turned vintage motorcycle joint, Kelly’s Olympian (09:54).

Next, we happily marooned ourselves on an island of “Old Portland” goodness amidst a sea of rampant redevelopment at NW 23rd's Nob Hill Bar & Grill (38:54) where Nate ascended into cheeseburger heaven and Alfredo re-discovered a bathroom just short of perfection. 

New year, same old beautiful bullshit... History by the Glass rolls on!


NW gem Nob Hill Bar & Grill now boasts HBTG's top-ranked burger -- 9.5/10!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Episode 16: The OGs of Portland | Huber's and Jake's Famous Crawfish (Dec. 27, 2019)

Image
No better bar story in Portland than that of Huber's On Dec. 27, 2019, we donned our gay apparel (tuxedo t-shirts, obviously) for an old school holiday special at the two oldest bars in Portland -- Jake's Famous Crawfish (est. 1892) and Huber's (est. 1879). Yes, like one of Dean Martin's classics from the '60s, we classed it up and drank it up, before, during, and after as we explored the fantastical, magnificent, 100% original histories of these two remarkable downtown venues. We shared the story of the legendary Way Fung "Jim" Louie overcoming a national plague of anti-Chinese rhetoric to become one of Portland's most beloved bar and restaurant proprietors at Huber's. And we tell you how, a few blocks away, Jacob Freiman employs his  mastery of locally plentiful crawfish and bon vivant attitude to make Jake's the go-to spot for the city's discerning drinkers in the early 20th century. You want bar history? You want bar history?...
Read more

Gone Drinkin'

Image
  Hello and welcome to the OFFICIAL website of the world's greatest podcast about the old bars of Portland, Oregon and beyond!  This creative experiment actually began right here as a verbose, articulate, pithy blog that recounted our various adventures. But that was in a simpler time back in 2018 when we had time to spare and significantly less arrogance.  Today, we are convinced that what the world REALLY wants is to listen to us blather on about bar stools, bathroom odor, burger complexity, and more on our wildly popular and much more time efficient podcast (History by the Glass wherever fine podcasts -- and ours -- are found).  So, we ain't gonna be updating this site much anymore...but you're welcome to browse around and explore our pasts works like the great, hallowed museum to our frenetic thoughts that it is.  Cheers!!
Read more

Episode 5: Steinhaus (June 8, 2018)...For Tony...

Image
Anthony Bourdain...a fellow enthusiast gone too soon, but never forgotten.  On Friday, June 8, 2018 we lost our muse. And it really hurt. Our previously scheduled History by the Glass visit to Steinhaus in NE Portland went on as planned that night, but took on a special significance as we mourned the loss of our philosophical patron. Anthony Bourdain never met us and, of course, never knew about this journey through Portland's most venerable drinking establishments. But I'd like to think, if he'd somehow learned of it, that he might've given us a quick nod of approval and lifted his glass in appreciation of our Quixotic mission. Over the past week, I've learned how far from alone I am in my appreciation of Tony Bourdain and how many others there are like me who experienced his profound impact on our world view. To see the outpouring of mourning and personal testimonials from friends and celebrities, both expected and unexpected, has been quite uplifting. ...
Read more